Early Breakfast withRelebogile Mabotja

Premier spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane insists the Gauteng Province has been paying the bills to the City of Joburg.

this comes after Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba announced yesterday that he is giving the Provincial Government 30 days to resolve R259 million owed to City.

Mashaba said the investigation reveals that the Department of Infrastructure and Development owes R161 million, Human Settlements R39 million and the Department of Health R59 million rand.

Sekhonyane acknowledges provincial government owes the City of Johannesburg R242 million.

We have been paying the bills. What we owe at the present moment is R242 million, part of which is unconfirmed accounts and historical accounts.

— Phumla Sekhonyane, Premier spokesperson

The City of Johannesburg is owned R16.1 billion. And of this R16.1 billion, the highest percentage is household debt at 8.7 billion, commercial debt that is business at 6.4 billion, government parastatals at just over R500 million.

— Phumla Sekhonyane, Premier spokesperson

Sekhonyane says the City has increased the allocation to clear up the historical debts for the past two years.

All we are saying to the mayor is that take time to understand the system and how we are working so that you understand where we are and how we are dealing with the issue of municipal debt.